Electronic documents may include sensitive information whose access should be restricted. It was known to encrypt sensitive electronic documents to prevent unauthorized access. In addition to encryption, access to restricted information is often controlled through the use of access control lists (ACLs). Typically, an ACL specifies which users have access to protected data and the level of access that users have to the protected data. The list can include an entry for each user that has access privileges. The ACL can be maintained as a table on a local system or it may be maintained in the cloud.
“Cloud computing” is well known today and refers to the access of computing resources and data via a network infrastructure, such as the Internet. The computing resources and data storage may be provided by linked data centers of the “cloud” (network). Each of the data centers typically includes a plurality of servers that provide data storage and retrieval services. Such services include, for example, backup and restoration of data, data migration, data sharing, data collaboration, and so on. Cloud storage services are accessible from anywhere in the world. Thus, cloud storage promotes collaboration between hundreds and thousands of users sharing the same files or objects.
One popular standard that has been developed for remote authentication of users is the Light-weight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). LDAP may be used to authenticate users to access resources that may reside locally or remotely to the user. Typically, especially in small business environments, the LDAP server is located remotely from the user. Utilizing a remote LDAP server provided through a service provider allows the small business to save the cost of providing its own local LDAP servers. Connectivity to the LDAP server is provided via the Internet, an intranet or other computer network. In some instances, some resources, such as web pages or web applications, may be located on the local client machine. Authentication of the user by the LDAP server would still be required before the user could access such resources. In the case where the client machine is a mobile computer, the client machine will often be disconnected from the network. In such an instance, the user would be unable to access the secure resources on the mobile client machine because there would be no connectivity to the LDAP server. In the case of a business environment, this can cause serious productivity losses.